Doggy Playtimes

I find it baffling how many people think that they can just bring their dog to the dog park and magically believe that their dog is going to know how to act, and that all the training you have ever given them will magically carry over in this massive, playing group of dogs. The dog park is the one place I don't expect my dog to behave (save for attacking another dog or playing just a little too rough for a 60-pound pit bull vs. 10-pound Boston Terrier wrestling match), simply because he gets too excited and looses his brain. If your dog doesn't loose his brain at a dog park, I commend you for your training and your dog's attention, or I will scoff at you for bringing in a dog far too timid for the dog park. Dog park rules carry over to any situation where you have multiple dogs playing in a confined area.

Yesterday, Howie and I decided to hit up our local Big-Name-Pet-Store for their "Doggie Social." There weren't many dog there - Howie, a sweetheart of an older yellow Labrador named Amy, and a chocolate Labrador puppy named Lincoln. Howie is still young, and forgets how big he is, and so Amy decided Howie was too rambunctious for her, but Lincoln had an attitude I had never seen on a puppy. He was very in-you-face, and aggressive about it, too.

Our "ref" for the session brought out a few balls for the dog to play with, and Howie was content to run around, trying to fit all three tennis balls in his mouth. When he couldn't do that, he'd hold one with his paw while trying to fit in two. Amy was your stereotypical Lab, and would bring the ball over to anyone who would throw it for her. Lincoln, on the other hand, wanted any ball that he didn't have, and would get in either dog's face to get that ball. Several times he snapped at Howie, and a few times got a fold of skin in his mouth.

Howie had finally had a enough of this rambunctious little puppy and pinned him. There were no teeth involved, but the way this puppy was squealing, you would have thought that Howie had him by the throat. A closer look revealed Howie had his paw on Lincoln's chest and his muzzel buried into his neck - but not a tooth touched the dog. Lincoln's owner scooped him up and coddled the dog, baby-talk and all. I removed my pit bull from the situation and we went to sit on the sidelines. Howie was visibly confused about the whole sequence of events. The rest of Howie's play session with these dog was on-leash, since a couple of Westies had joined the group, so I wanted to be able to control his playing with the smaller dogs. At this point there was only about 10 minutes left of playtime.

After everyone had left, the "ref" and I marvelled at the agressive behavior on this tiny puppy. "Like I said," she reiterrated from a previous conversation, "All chocolate Labs are crazy."

Afterwards, Howie and I made the trek to our regular dog park (which we rarely frequent as it is), where the dogs are little more grown and a little more seasoned, but not without it's "stupid pet owners."

Having a pit bull, I realize that he is apt to want to be in the middle of everything. He isn't aggressive, he just wants to be in the middle of it. At one point, a German Shepard attacked another dog, and while the other dog owners stood around and simply watched what was happening, my dog (along with a few others) was booking it from the other side of the dog park to investigate. Luckily, said German Shepard owner knew enough to remove his dog from the park and the other dog left the incident unscathed.

Otherwise, it was an uneventful day at the dog park. My dog running around with the other dogs simply because they were running, and we met several nice people with equally nice dogs. It's also nice to meet people who understand that dogs can get a little rambunctious, and my pit bull is not out to eat your smaller dog - let me remove him and redirect his attention to the Pointer mix running around with a stick rather than coming over to scream at my dog, which will do nothing.

I understand that taking a pit bull to a dog park is risky and we will meet those people with wrong impressions about the breed, but being responsible is a prerequisite for taking your dog to the dog park in the first place. If he were aggressive, I would not even think to take him to the dog park; if an incident happens, I remove my dog immediately. Like I said, a dog is likely to "lose their brain" at the dog park, and so it is the sole responsibility of the owner to realize when to coddle you dog and when to remove or restrain your dog.